North Deck Construction Helps Pave Way for CONRAC
By Herschel J. Grangent, Jr.

Some people say that for every action there is a reaction. That idea is
certainly evident with the recent construction taking place at Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport’s North Terminal parking deck.

The workers, scaffolding and blocked entry lanes are a collective reaction
to the ongoing action of building the elevated automated people mover, or
APM. Once completed, the 1 ½ mile-long APM will conveniently shuttle
passengers from the Airport’s main terminal to a Consolidated Rental
Agency Center which is scheduled to open in early 2009.

For now though, travelers may see it as a slight inconvenience. We have
completed the foundation (columns) for the APM, and we are in the process
of installing pre-cast beams that will span between each of the columns,”
said Assistant Resident Engineer Mira Williams. “For (the workers)
to be able to lift and safely place the concrete for those overhead stands,
it is necessary for us to shut down some of the entry lanes in the North
parking area.”

The latest phase of the work began in March 2007 and is slated to continue
through early July. During construction, the “shut down” Williams
spoke of will involve the temporary closure of certain lanes and the changeover
of others to maintain efficiency.

North
Deck Construction Helps Pave Way for CONRAC

“Basically, what we’ve done is taken two of the existing Daily
lanes and closed those down to make room for the (scaffolding),” Williams
said. “The second Economy lane has been changed over to a Daily lane,
so we now have one entry for Economy, two entries for Daily and two for
Hourly.”

Williams said that because the converted Economy-to-Daily lane was originally
designed to only lead to the Economy lot, it was reconfigured to reroute
drivers to the Daily lot. She added that the volume of cars entering and
exiting the North deck each day was evaluated, and that although things
will be moving noticeably slower, the current reconfiguration will allow
the deck to continue functioning properly.

The final challenge resulting from North parking deck construction will
not necessarily affect those going there to park.

“When the crane is in place, we will have to capture two of the pass-through
lanes (just south of the entry lanes) for crane access,” Williams
said. “These lanes are typically used for traffic that is just continuing
through, but the crane will only leave one lane for these drivers to travel
along the lower roadway.”